I guess a few drops couldn’t hurt. Long as you don’t make a habit out of it.
— Seymour
Audrey II wants blood.
The striking but mysterious plant has revived the fortunes of Mushnick’s, a Skid Row flower shop. Now Audrey II is sick. Seymour, a sweet-tempered worker, tries nursing it back to health. Sunshine, water, soil, plant food — nothing works. Until Seymour accidentally pricks his finger on a rose.
“The next time we see Audrey II, she’s a little bigger,” said William Whitaker, a professor of practice in WashU’s Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, who will direct the musical Oct. 24-Nov. 2. “Seymour is carrying her around. He’s doing radio interviews. And all his fingers are bandaged.”
“This is a raucous show,” Whitaker added. “It’s funny. It’s scary. The music is great. It has oddball, B-movie vibes. But there’s real intellectual heft. When we start compromising our principles, things can go really, really wrong.”
Staging a cult classic
“Little Shop” comes to its B-movie stylings honestly. The original 1960 film, a horror/farce directed by schlock king Roger Corman, remains a cult classic. The theatrical version, featuring music by Alan Menken and book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, debuted off-off-Broadway in 1982 and became an improbable success. It then enjoyed a five-year run at the larger Orpheum Theatre and in 1986 was adapted back to film by “Muppets” and “Star Wars” puppeteer Frank Oz.
Today “Little Shop” is one of the nation’s most-produced musicals, at all levels of theater — from Broadway revivals and national tours to regional, college and even high school productions.
Whitaker, who chairs the PAD’s production committee, noted that students lobbied hard for “Little Shop.” “This is big, joyous, event theater, and I think students respond to that,” Whitaker said. “We’re putting the band onstage. We’re inviting people to wear Halloween costumes. It’s almost like going to a concert.”
The story centers on Seymour, who first discovers the mysterious plant — actually a space alien — and names it for his co-worker Audrey. As the plant grows larger, and as the shop grows more successful, Seymour struggles to meet the plant’s increasingly gruesome appetites. But one night, after seeing Audrey assaulted by a sadistic boyfriend, Seymour and Audrey II reach bloody consensus.
“’The guy looks like plant food to me,’” said Whitaker, quoting one of the show’s best-known lyrics. Karmic justice? Perhaps. But violence always takes a toll.
“The audience may be laughing, but the plant keeps getting bigger,” Whitaker said. “It’s cute. It’s hilarious. It’s killing people. It’s expanding. It’s getting closer and closer.
“Audrey II is coming for us.”
Cast and crew
The cast of 13 is led by Eli Regardie as Seymour and Elie Panoff as Audrey. Zach Nowacek is Mr. Mushnik. Jacob Elliot is Audrey’s boyfriend, Orin. Esteban Casteneda voices Audrey II.
Bethany Anderson, Avery Melton-Meaux and Ava Wang are neighborhood girls Ronnette, Crystal and Chiffon. Lucas Salazar and Esperance Bukenya are Customers #1 and #2. Gus Lookingbill is the Wino. Reeves Wood plays the roles of DJ and Bernstein. Tina Yu is Snip. Salazar, Srinivasan and Yu also serve as Audrey II puppeteers.
Scenic design is by Obike Anwisye. Costume design is by Nikki Glaros, who also serves as intimacy coordinator. Noe Schwartz is sound designer. Margaret Fecko is lighting designer. Emily Frei is props designer and scenic charge artist.
Colin Healy is music director. Choreographers are Cecil Slaughter and Ashley Taylor. The technical director is Adam Jehle. The stage manager is Juan Cortez, with assistance from Raquel (Elle) Brouwer. Coco Jones is the assistant director.
Tickets
Performances of “Little Shop of Horrors” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in WashU’s Edison Theatre Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24 and 25; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26. Performances will continue the following weekend, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 31 and Nov. 1; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.
Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6465 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are $20, or $15 for seniors, students and WashU faculty and staff, and free for WashU students. Tickets are available through the WashU Box Office. For information, call 314-935-6543 or visit pad.wustl.edu.
